Dyson settles row over departure of chief with multi-million payout

A bitter legal battle that threatened to throw Sir James Dyson’s ambitions to build an electric car off course has been settled with a multi-million pound payout to the chief executive who ran the business for over six years.

Dyson brought a legal claim in the High Court after Conze, a former German paratrooper, left the business, best known for its vacuum cleaners, in October.

While Conze’s departure was announced amicably, within weeks Sir James Dyson, one of Britain’s best-known entrepreneurs, alleged the former boss had leaked commercial secrets to a third party during his time in charge.

Conze strongly denied the claims, calling them a “ridiculous allegation” and said they were a ploy to distract from the fact that he was about to sue over his departure.

During Conze’s time as chief executive the business went from selling five million units a year to 17 million a year and expanded into 24 countries.

He oversaw the launch of new products like a supersonic hairdryer that helped achieve a leap in profits.

The workforce of the privately owned company quadrupled to about 10,000 and Dyson posted record profits, up 41% to £631 million.

Conze has received a settlement that took into account loss of earnings and compensation for long-term incentive payments he missed out on, according to people familiar with the agreement.

Conze was the latest senior executive to leave the company, where Sir James remains the public face, in recent months.

This year the chief financial officer John Shipsey left to join medical devices maker Smiths Group. The head of human resources, Laura Hagan, also left.

Conze was replaced by Jim Rowan, the chief operating officer, who was selected to lead the company’s attempts to build an electric car and take the business into a whole new sector.

Sir James Dyson declined to comment.